Tsundere!
by Joushou-Sensei
Summary: As if having to leave Tokyo wasn't enough Ootani Akira's secret has been found out by her classmates at Iwatobi! All she wanted was to be left alone in order to finish her high school days, but thanks to the swim club that doesn't look like it's going to go as smoothly as planned! A Makoto X OC.
1. Chapter 1

Tsundere

Ch. 1

So not Tokyo!

As first impressions go, Ootani Akira's was probably the worst. She slouched, didn't pay attention to Amakata-sensei, and chewed bubble gum. Amakata stumbled over the girls name, and asked her to introduce herself to the class. Akira glared at the teacher as she popped a pink bubble. She looked towards the awaiting class.

"Stay away from me." She had said. Makoto felt extremely uncomfortable as the girl searched for a seat, and her gray eyes landed on him. Makoto sat in the back row next to a window behind Haruka. He could feel goosebumps begin to form as she strutted towards him ignoring Amakata completely. She was vaguely familiar but he didn't think that she knew him.

Akira was pretty girl, slender, with a good face. She had stylishly short hair, and had loosened her green necktie enough to look devil may care. She had make up on, but it was expertly applied, like something you saw on TV not in high school. She stopped just next to Haruka and stared at Makoto, the whole class was silent.

"I want to sit here. Move." Makoto felt his eyes widen as Akira waited expectantly. Makoto who was a rather submissive person and didn't like confrontation thought about what it would mean to refuse the girl. Haruka had turned to watch, silently, and Makoto looked to his blue eyed friend. Suddenly a hand came down on his desk causing half the class to jump.

"I'm talking to you." She said now glaring at him, her steely glare rather frightening. Makoto looked to where the only other seat was, next to the door and in the front.

"S...sorry." He said miserably and stood from his now former chair and went to the other seat. Haruka and the class staring in disbelief. Akira was silent but took the seat, and after Makoto had sat down Amakata cleared her throat and turned to the chalk board.

'Poor Makoto.' She thought beginning to write down announcements.

Akira looked out the window, she wanted to be anywhere but here, but part of her mothers stipulations was that she had to graduate from Iwatobi high school. So, as much as she hated being away from Tokyo and her friends she would do this one thing for her mother. She looked over towards the boy she had displaced, almost feeling a bit bad for him, but she wanted to be in the back, unnoticed for the most part and by the window. If he had really wanted the seat he should have fought for it.

Lessons went on and Akira found herself the object of many stares and whispers, but that was nothing new. When lunch rolled around she stood up and went to buy something from the cafeteria and eat it alone somewhere. Outside the classroom a handful of students crowded around to get a look at her, as was the norm at most schools. She pushed through them with a glare and made her was to the cafeteria. In line a short girl with very thick glasses and plain neatly cut black hair fidgeted next to her. As they moved the girl stepped on Akira's foot.

"I'm so sorry! So sorry!" The girl said bowing so low that her hair grazed her food. Akira sighed at the display.

'Don't be so pathetic.' She thought as she took hold of the girls hair and took it out of her food. After she paid for her meal to went to the roof to eat. The roof was almost empty except for a few students who we're all seated with their friends and chatting animatedly with each other. Akira sighed thinking of her own group and sat in the corner with her back to the fence. It wasn't that she didn't like this town, in fact she liked to visit her grandparents here every now and then, the owned an onsen, but what she really had wanted to focus on was career with her friends.

"Oh! Oh! The new girl!" She had hardly eaten a bite when she heard an excited voice headed her way. Akira looked up to see an underclassmen skipping his way over, his blond hair flopping this was and that and a friendly smile on his face. He was cute, she'd give him that but she wanted to be left alone.

"Nagisa!" Another sterner looking underclassmen worriedly chased after 'Nagisa' and had to continuously push his glasses up. Said boys stopped in front of a seat Akira.

"Hiya! Welcome to Iwatobi! You're Ootani Akira right?" Nagisa said plopping down in front of her. The other boy gave her a brief polite bow but didn't sit down like his friend. Akira stood and received a very innocent look from Nagisa, it made her think of a rabbit.

"You weren't present when I said this so I'll say it now. Stay away from me, I don't want to be friends, I don't want to chat, got it?" She said before walking towards the door leaving her food on the roof.

"Hey wait you left..." But she had slammed the door cutting Nagisa off. Going down the stairs Akira could feel her annoyance reach a breaking point. She bumped into someone as she rounded the stairs.

"Watch it!" She shouted as she continued her was down. 'What is wrong with this school!' she thought heading towards the bathrooms.

Haruka had caught Makoto who had stumbled after being bumped into by Ootani. The two had been on their way up to meet with Rei and Nagisa. Makoto stared after the girl with a forlorn expression. Haruka patted his back feeling sorry for his long time friend, no one was ever really mean to Makoto in fact most everybody liked him.

"Don't worry about it." He said hoping to cheer him up. Makoto took a breath and smiled.

"You're right, maybe she's having a bad day." He said continuing up the stairs as Haruka shook his head.

"Maybe she's just mean." He mumbled as he followed the boy.

Akira stood as the class rep announced the end of the day and the students bowed to the teacher. She grabbed her bag and her homework, she wasn't too worried about her grades here, and made her way to the door. She was nearly bowled over as a red headed girl rushed into the room.

"Haruka-senpai! Makoto-senpai! I have a new training schedule!" She announced before realizing that she had bumped someone. She smiled at the girl.

"Sorry about that." She said sincerely, but the smile Gou was expecting never came. The girl frowned and glared at her.

"Move." She said in a dangerous sounding voice. It gave Gou the chills and for the sake of self-preservation Gou jumped out of the way. Akira walked out of the classroom leaving behind a very chilly atmosphere. Makoto and Haruka came to stand next to a frozen Gou.

"That's the transfer Ootani Akira." Makoto said giving her shoulder a friendly pat. Gou looked confused for a second before her face lit with recognition that neither boy understood.

"Practice." Haruka said already untying his tie. Makoto and Gou smiled at each other and followed quickly.

Akira had thought she would be walking home but outside the school gate was her grandfathers black Mercedes, along with the driver Takahashi. He opened the door for her and she slipped in.

"Good afternoon miss." He said. She nodded and buckled her seat belt.

"Good afternoon." And so that was Akira's first day. Needless to say, by tomorrow a rather nasty opinion of her would be circulating the school.

That night Gou searched through her CD's and style magazines before she found what she had been looking for. There on he cover of J-pop monthly stood five young fashionably dressed girls, each had a unique style and near their feet were their names and the instrument they played. Gou's eyes went wide, because in the middle of the band's photo was Ootani Akira in harem black pants and her hands slid in the pockets. She gave off a very cool vibe. To Akira's right was an older looking girl with feathered black hair and a very regal looking style and her hands on her hips, Gou looked to her name, Hanakata Omari, bass. The girl next to Omari looked about Gou's age and had a playful looking style with brown curly hair and straight edge fringe, her name was Ginzou Momoe, Keyboard and back up vocals. To the right of Akira was a very sweet looking girl with long light brown hair, Kannoe Toshi and next to her was a severe looking girl with pitch black hair cut in a classic bob, Ushio Chiasa, guitar. Gou looked back to Akira in the middle and down to her name, next to it was lead vocals and guitar.

Gou felt herself smile and giggle, no wonder she had felt like she'd seen Akira before. All together the five girls made up WakiZashi an up and coming girl band. Instantly Gou grabbed her cell phone and sent a mass text.

'We have a celeb at Iwatobi!' the fact that Akira had been utterly rude suddenly seemed overshadowed. She found the first video she could of the group. A haunting tune played as Akira's voice in a rather sad tone. The camera panned on the group that had yet to be lit up, and as Akira finished the first part of the song a strong guitar riff broke the soft tone of the song and the girls began to play their instruments with vigor, Akira singing and looking off from the camera, the over all effect was intense and all the girls were extremely good. Gou spent the rest of her night looking up videos about WakiZashi knowing she would regret it tomorrow.

In one of the open air bathes Akira sneezed three times in a row. Her grandma stuck her head our from the dressing room.

"Ara! Who's thinking about you?" She said with a good natured laugh. Akira splashed water her way halfheartedly.


	2. Chapter 2

Tsundere

Ch.2

Gou, Gou, Gou!

The next day Akira walked through the front gate and was immediately bombarded by boys and girls alike. They were all hollering and fussing about this or that so much so that Akira couldn't make out a single word any of them said. A teacher passing by saved her for the most part and the crowd dispersed. At her shoe locker she saw that the small door was wide open and full to bursting with multicolored envelopes.

"What the..." She pulled one out and the whole lot fell like a waterfall. She knelt to gather all of them her face red in embarrassment, they were all clearly confession letters or fan mail. As she gathered the letters a hand held out a handful for her. She looked up to the hand's owner and felt her face fall, the boy she had made move smiled at her as he held out the letters.

"Good Morning Ootani-san." He said warmly, Akira promptly turned her heel and quickly made her way to the classroom avoiding any and everyone. Makoto stood next to her locker still holding the letters. He closed her locker and stuffed the letters into his bag.

She sat with arms crossed and staunchly avoided the crowed that had gathered outside the room. She tapped her foot nervously, had they found out? It wasn't like she had been hiding it but still! The chair in front of her scrapped the floor and she jumped only to see the bored looking boy that usually sat there staring at her in what she thought was boredom. He sat down and she again stared at her desk. The bell rang and class went on fairly normally, except that at every chance they got people would look her way and wave.

'Stop looking this way you fickle jerks!' she thought. Yesterday she had been sure that the rumor of her being an unpleasant person would steer the students away from her. Despite that they all smiled and gushed about her.

'Fake, Fake, Fake! I hate you people!' her head screamed. As lunch rolled around Akira jumped from her seat and ran towards the roof, maybe she could hide there.

Makoto watched as Ootani sprinted past him up the stairs, followed by a wave of chattering girls.

"Oh! Makoto-senpai did you see Ootani-sama? Did she go this way?" They asked with stars in their eyes. Makoto smiled and pointed towards the cafeteria.

"I think she went that way." He said and they were gone in a puff of dust. Haruka looked to Makoto in a rather disproving way. Makoto never lied.

"She seems to be in a pinch." Was all the taller boy said. Haruka shook his head, he just didn't understand the ample kindness that Makoto had sometimes. He would have sold the girl out.

On the roof Nagisa and Gou had cornered Akira, she had her back to the fence as the two animatedly asked questions and Rei (Who was blushing) listened in wanting to know the answers too.

"Why did you transfer here Akira?" Gou asked holding out a magazine towards Akira. She merely backed up more and stared in horror at the three underclassmen.

" I watched your video! You're group is really good!" Nagisa said practically bouncing on his feet.

Makoto didn't seem to understand what was going on and looked to Haruka, who pulled out his phone and opened the video mail Gou had sent him. Makoto's eye widened in surprise and he looked between the Akira on the screen, all dolled up and cool looking and the Akira who was being attacked by his friends. She had less make up on but she looked the same.

"Why didn't I get this message?" He asked Haruka who only shrugged. After all how was he supposed to know. Another commotion made him look back towards the group, Gou had asked Akira to sign her magazine and was pushing it towards the girl.

"That's it!" Akira shouted taking the magazine and throwing it over the fence, everyone went silent as they watched it fall towards the pool. Gou's eyes welled up with tears.

"I'm not going to sign your crap! Leave me the hell alone! What part of that do you not get? I hate people like you!" She shouted pointing at Gou her steel colored eyes on fire.

"You don't care if I'm a horrible person do you? Just because I'm famous you like me, get a clue!" Akira said shooting another proverbial arrow through Gou. She pushed past Gou and Nagisa and nearly got by Haruka and Makoto before Haruka grabbed her wrist. Akira sent him a furious glare and the usually stout young man nearly let her go.

"Apologies." He demanded of her. If Akira's demeanor hadn't been black before it was now, she snatched her hand from him and looked about ready to hit him.

"Mind your own business blank slate." She hissed, her voice a bit deeper than normal. She turned without saying another word and let the roof. She went straight to the teachers lounge and barged in with out permission to call Takahashi.

The Iwatobi swim club were all so shell shocked that none of them moved. Gou had stopped crying and wondered over worriedly to Haruka. Rei was comforting Nagisa and Makoto patted Haruka's shoulder.

"What's that girls problem!" Rei shouted as Nagisa pouted next to him.

"Shouldn't someone who's in the entertainment business be grateful to the people who like them?" He asked the group. Gou shifted uncomfortably, she had been so excited to have Akira at school that she hadn't really thought about all the trouble she would have now.

"I think maybe...it's my fault." She said sadly in an apologetic tone. Makoto looked her way and smiled.

"She could have been nicer about it Kou, it's not only your fault." He said. Haruka who had remained quiet finally looked towards them all.

"Am I really a blank slate?" He asked looking extremely blank. They all instantly laughed.

Gou and Nagisa both decided that the next day they would apologies to Akira, but the next day Akira didn't come to school, and the next and the next. On the fourth day even Makoto began to worry.

"What should we do?" Nagisa asked no one in particular that day at swim practice. He sat on the edge of the pool and swished his feet as Haruka swam up next to he and Makoto. Gou and Rei were going over swimming techniques and hearing Nagisa came over as well.

"Well...We could ask Amakata-sensei if we could take her the handouts from the days she missed." Makoto said pulling himself out of the water. Nagisa shot up.

"Oh! That's a good idea Makoto! Let's do it!" The students all turned to Amakata who was sun bathing.

"I have them in my bag, just a second." She said smiling at her good natured students.

Amakata gave them the address to Akira's house and the papers to Makoto who she trusted the most. The five of them stared up at the traditional Ryokan.

"Whoa! She live at an Onsen! I'm so jealous!" Nagisa shouted bouncing this way and that. The group made their way through the front entrance, since it was off season not may people were around. Before they could reach the front door they could all hear a light melodic strumming of an acoustic guitar.

"Come in the garden and look at the trees, I used to play there when I was a child. Sparrows and birds, little families settled down their long ago...so many years have passed...the dew is still on the roses...I left my childhood...in the garden green." They all peaked from behind the wall that hid a small ornate garden. Sitting on the porch with a withered looking guitar was Akira in a casual sweat shirt and black tights strumming expertly and singing to no one. The usual angry sneer was no where to be seen, she actually looked very calm and comfortable. Makoto could feel his face heating up and he immediately stood back up.

"Ara, are you lost?" A voice cut through the air loud enough to alert Akira. Makoto turned to see an older woman in a navy blue yukata smiling at them.

"Actually we came to see Ootani-san we have handouts from school." He said as the other four all blushed at being caught. Akira stood and placed her guitar down gently and walked towards her grandma.

"My, how nice, Akira I had no idea you already made so many friends!" Grandma said lightly patting Akira's back.

"They're not...friends."She said finally. Grandma didn't seem to accept that though.

"Come in, it's a long walk from the school." She said pulling Akira by her shirt and opening the front doors.

"At least have tea." The older woman said nudging Akira none too gently towards the kitchen. The group were all amazed at how unlike Akira grandma was. As she showed them to a very nice room she asked all of them their names and how they met Akira, Makoto had answered before anyone else could.

"We're in the same class." He said graciously. Akira slid the shoji door open with her foot, earing a scoulding from her grandma.

"Akira! That's extremely impolite!" She said as Akira closed the door with her foot.

"Akira!" The girl rolled her eyes and set down the tea.

"Help yourselves." She said not in the mood to be very conversational. Grams however was not having it and whacked Akira upside the head. Everyone watched with wide eyes as Akira glared and grams glared right back.

"They came all the way up here to give you your papers, be polite at the very least you ungrateful girl!" Akira's face flushed a pink and she pushed up her sleeves.

"Alright! You overbearing old bird!" She said holding out a hand for Gou's tea cup. Grams' smile was back in place once everyone had tea and she stood up with a practiced grace.

"I'll be back with snacks. If she's rude please feel free to smack her." With that they were all alone with Akira.

Nagisa spoke first, after finishing his tea.

"Akira-chan, we're all really sorry." He said looking up at her with puppy dog eyes. Gou spoke up right as he finished.

"Yeah, I'm sorry it was me who told everyone that you were a famous singer from Tokyo, I didn't think about how difficult it would be for you, I'm so sorry." Gou was near tears once she was finished. Akira sat in a dark silence absorbing the apology.

"It...was you?" She said in a very low voice that had Makoto on guard instantly. Gou sniffed and nodded.

"I'm sorry. We all wanted to apologies sooner but you never came back to school." Everyone was silent for spell.

"You have a very nice voice." Makoto said smiling her direction and trying to break the tension. Akira bristled.

"What the hell, are you all still hung up on that ?" She asked frowning at them and getting ready to stand, but Haruka was faster. With a swift karate chop her smacked her square on her head.

"Haru!" The group shouted as Akira gripped where the boy had smacked her.

"Why you!" She was about to shout more when the shoji door slid open and a very stern Grams stood with a tray full of tea cakes.

"Akiiiirrraaa." She practically sang the girls name. Akira went a little pale and sat back down.

"I thought I heard shouting?" She asked in a sickly sweet tone. Akira tensed as if ready for another scolding.

"I had to smack her." Haruka said, matter of factly, Grams nodded and sat the plate down.

"Then I imagine all is well?" She asked the group and not Akira, and all of them nodded.

"Good." with that Grams left again. Akira turned to Haruka.

"What the hell was that for?" She asked him quietly but furiously. He held up his hand again this time Akira blocked him.

"You have been rude to Makoto since you got here, it pisses me off." Haruka said removing his hand. Akira stared at him wide eyes, and then turned to the tallest of the bunch. Makoto was staring at Haruka in surprise.

"He wasn't talking about you being famous, he was talking about when we all heard you in the garden. Besides Makoto doesn't care about that sort of thing." Haruka reached for a cake in the shape of a fish and munched down on it.

Akira let out a deep sigh caught Makoto's attention. He smiled gently at her, and she wondered how he could smile at her that way.

"Sorry." She said so quietly that they had almost not heard it, with that one word her face went tomato red. Makoto shook his head.

"It's aright." He said holding out his cup for more tea. Akira instantly obliged and poured him more. She looked all around the table and found that all of the people around it, except blank slate, were smiling. She suddenly felt really awful. She stood up quickly and headed out the door.

"I'll be right back." She said hurrying towards her room.

The group all looked to Haruka and Makoto, each looked satisfied with how things had turned out.

"She's actually not so bad, right?" Gou said taking a cake. Everyone seemed to agree, just as Akira came back. She held out a magazine to Gou, who surprised took it.

"I'm sorry about your other one." Akira said without looking directly at Gou. Gou found that it was the issue of J-pop that had WakiZashi on the cover. Gou smiled at Akira as she hugged the magazine to herself.

"Thanks!" Akira blushed at the thank you but nodded and sat back down.

"Will you come back to school tomorrow?" Rei asked finally speaking up, Akira made him nervous. Akira paled.

"I don't know." She said softly. She didn't want to deal with all of the students.

" Don't worry Amakata-sensei has already made sure no one will bother you." Makoto said noticing her reluctance. She looked up at him and smiled a small smile. Makoto blushed a tinge, only to be noticed by Nagisa.

"Then I guess I'll have to try." Akira said.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch. 3

Unconsciously

Akira felt weird, all tingly and light as a feather. She opened her eyes and saw a deep dark nothingness, her vision was blurred and she felt groggy. Above her she could see the shimmer of the sun on the water and realized that she was very far beneath the surface. The realization made something inside her snap and self preservation made her jump into action. She clawed at the water desperately trying to close the distance between her and the surface. Her lungs began to burn and a tightness began to constrict her chest, her flailing arms getting her nowhere. As if she could yell for help her mouth opened to shout but she was silenced by the water and her last bit of breath floated away from her to the light.

She'd never fainted before but she imagined that this was what it felt like right before someone did. Her eyes began to drift close without her permission, she blinked to keep them opened but found even that futile. Then a shadow swished by, quick as lightning. She couldn't see the shape of the shadow but reached out for it anyways, and to her relief it caught her hand and pulled her towards it. Suddenly she felt air enter her mouth and she could breath again, she opened her eyes wider and found a face pressed to hers giving her it's air. She looked down and saw a shimmering green tail with wispy fins that began to swish back and forth and carry her towards the surface with the utmost ease. Looking up she caught sight of human arms, strong, well defined, big arms that had wrapped around her. They broke the surface and the sudden bright sunlight blinded her, obscuring his, because she had seen his chest, face from her. Just as her eyes had adjusted to the light and she chanced a look at him...Beep...Beep...Beep...

"Ah..." Akira reached for her alarm on her nightstand and slammed the snooze button. Why was it that she always woke up right as she was getting to the good part of her dreams? She had really wanted to see the merman's face. Her phone binged to alert her to an incoming text message and she snatched it up.

_ Photo shoot Saturday, can you make it? - M _

Akira quickly texted back that she would indeed be there and sent her reply, then shuffled from bed and went to get ready for school. She had been back for a week and as promised by the swim club hadn't had any more trouble with her enthusiastic classmates. She had told Makoto that he could have his seat back but he had told her to keep it and made a switch with the boy next to her. Now he sat next to her. For some reason it had irritated her that he hadn't wanted the seat back.

In fact a lot of things about Makoto irritated Akira. He was exceedingly polite, always congenial and avoided any kind of confrontation. He was the epitome of a nice guy, which equated to her to being a pushover. He had let a whole group of first years ahead of him in line to buy lunch one day and ended up having to settle for juice that day since the kids had bought the remaining melon breads. He hadn't complained and had happily sipped his juice, of course his friends had shared their food with him and he hadn't gone hungry but that wasn't the point.

What was the point? Akira, who now sat with the swim club at lunch, had thought that it irritated her simply because she was exactly the opposite. It shouldn't have irritated_ that_ much though, right?

Akira shrugged on a light jumper over her uniform and slipped her feet into her shoes before heading out the front entrance. Grandma was waiting by the gate with a bento in a black silk bag. She smiled lovingly at Akira and handed it to her.

"Have a good day dear." She said waving as Akira set off down the road, it was a twenty minuet walk. She had been offered to still use the car but she actually liked the feel of the morning air and the exercise. She thought about Saturday and mentally planned her trip out, she would take a train, and it was a four hour trip, and then a cab in order to be there by noon. She sighed, she'd have to wake up extra early, but she would get to spend the day with the girls. Akira reached the bottom of the hill that the Ryokan sat atop and stopped for a moment to look at the water. It was crystal clear and shimmering in the morning light, it made her think about her dream. He had kissed her in order to breath for her, and the thought made a dreamy blush dust her cheeks. She laughed at her own silliness and continued on her way to school.

She saw Gou at the gate and waved as the girl ran her way.

"Good morning Akira!" She said happily practically bouncing on her toes. Akira smiled at her and nodded.

"Good morning," They both went to change their shoes and walked to their classrooms together. Akira was one of the first students to arrive and sat her bag on the desk. She pulled out her phone to silence it, she checked her latest message from Momoe.

_Yatta! We've missed you! - M_

She smiled at the screen, Momoe was probably the kindest of all the girls of WakiZashi, Akira and the other girls all felt extremely protective of her. She placed her phone back into her bag just as Haruka and Makoto took their seats.

"Good morning Ootani-san." Makoto said as pleasantly as always. Haruka gave her a nod.

"Morning, Tachibana-kun, Nanase-kun." She said politely.

"You know you are welcome to call us by our given names." Makoto said just as Amakata-sensei walked in. Akira was glad for it, she didn't want to tell him that she didn't want to call him by his given name. Although he tried very hard to become friends with her, along with the others of the swim team, she still felt a gap between herself and them. It made her feel uneasy.

"Good morning class." And the lessons began.

As lunch rolled around Gou came by to walk with Akira and the boys to the roof, she complained about how she had been chosen to be in charge of her classes booth for the upcoming school festival.

"It's such a pain." She said opening her lunch. Makoto and Haruka had gone to get drinks and as Nagisa and Rei finally showed Akira was beginning to wonder what was taking them so long. She sighed, she had asked for tea, and didn't want to start eating without it.

"I'm going to go see what is taking so long." She said raising from her seat and heading towards the vending machines. As she approached them she could see a group of girls chatting and buying drinks, and behind them was Makoto and Haruka, the former looking less than interested. She wasn't sure if the girls had jumped line or if Makoto had let them in front of him, but she was suddenly angry. They clearly didn't care that they were holding up the line. She went straight to Makoto and frowned at him.

"What's taking so long?" She asked him loud enough so that everyone near them heard. Makoto smiled at her apologetically.

"Well they said they had a lot of drinks to buy for their friends." He said and she knew he had let them go first. She could feel her eye twitch in annoyance.

"You girls." She said looking their way and seeing the red ties that made them first years. They all turned to look and see who was calling them, and their faces lit up when the realized who it was.

"Akira-senpai!" Akira glared at them and then grabbed Makoto by the elbow and pushed him forwards.

"What does he look like to you?" She asked in her deep smooth voice. The girls looked confusedly from her to Makoto and then back. Makoto the whole time only looked confused.

"...Uh...Like Makoto-senpai." One girl said. Akira nodded and smirked viciously at the girl and nearly laughed when she shivered in fear.

"That's right he's your senpai, you should respect him not walk all over him. He kindly let you go ahead of him so that you could buy your friends their drinks, but you have taken advantage of his kindness and now are holding up not only him but the rest of these students." The girls looked around them and saw the angry faces of the students in line and suddenly felt very alienated.

"You should be more considerate, and if I catch you taking advantage of this idiot again I will make sure your high school life is so horrible that you'll have to transfer, do you understand?" They immediately nodded and apologized before running off. Akira pushed Makoto forward and pointed to the vending machine.

"Hurry up, I'm tired of waiting." He nodded and bought their drinks. Haruka stood next to her and none to gently brought his fist down on her head. She glared his way but saw that he was actually looking at her in a rather strange way. Almost like he was surprised, but what was there to be surprised about? She was always this rude.

As they made their way back to the roof Makoto finally cleared his voice and Akira stopped.

"If you have something to say then say it." She said haughtily. He seemed a little frightened but Haruka gave him a slight nudge.

"You shouldn't be so rude to them Ootani-san." Makoto said looked up at her, as she was two steps ahead of him on the stairs. For some reason this really ticked her off.

"I wouldn't have to be if you took up for yourself, you might as well be a door mat, you let the students around here walk all over you, it's annoying!" She said snatching her drink from him and practically jogging the rest of the way to the roof.

Makoto looked to Haruka for advice but he simply shrugged and followed Akira.

"I'm not that bad." Makoto said feeling that what Akira said was not exactly right but not far from the truth, though he had never looked at it that way. When he reached the roof he found everyone looking between Haruka and Akira, he had clearly smacked her again.

"Stop that!" She said sitting down and pulling her food out of the silk bag. Inside was a beautiful arrangement of professionally cooked dishes. Gou looked at it enviously.

"Makoto where's your lunch?" Rei said noticing that the tallest of the group had no food with him. Akira glanced up from her food and noticed this too. Makoto laughed nonchalantly and waved a dismissive hand.

"He didn't have time to buy it." Haruka said before stuffing a bite of mackerel into his mouth. Akira felt that twitch again and she glared at him.

"You see, that's what I mean. If you had just made those girls wait their turn you would have been able to get to the cafeteria or buy bread." She said as if scolding a child. She grabbed the lid of her lunch box and began to pile what she wanted of her lunch and then stuck out the rest, the bigger portion, towards Makoto.

"Ootani-san I cant take your lunch." He said looking helplessly at her. She glared harder at him.

"Yes, you can. You have swim practice today right? Just take it, otherwise I might strangle you." She said and Makoto slowly took the fancy boxed lunch from her.

"I can't eat it all anyways." She said giving him her chopsticks and using the plastic fork that was also in the bag.

"Thank you." Makoto said quietly. As the two ate in silence the swim club silently looked between them and then to each other. They looked to Haruka who shrugged but quirked an eyebrow at a sulking Makoto.

After lunch Makoto had been quieter than usual and Akira was in a bad mood, a dark aura emanating from her that had even teachers jumping out of her way. At the end of classes the class rep stood up and called everyone to attention.

"As everyone knows the school festival is in two weeks, does anyone have any suggestions about what we as a class should do?" A few hands shot up and each one was called on.

"Maid cafe!" one boy said, the girls groaned.

"Takoyaki stand."

"Haunted house!" At this suggestion people seemed to agree, and before anymore suggestions could be made the class had settled on having a Haunted classroom. Haruka turned in his seat to look towards Makoto which prompted Akira to do the same. She felt her eyebrows shoot up into her hairline. Makoto looked absolutely terrified and turned to look pleadingly at Haruka.

"Haru..." He said in a pitiful voice. Akira shook her head. On top of being a pushover he was also a coward.

"Aren't you a man?" She asked more to herself but Makoto heard.

"I hate scary things." He said wretchedly. She rolled her eyes.

"It's obviously not real." She said turning her attention back to the class rep.

"Alright then moving on, we'll need a few people who will be dressed as the monsters, ghost, ect. Anyone?" Again hands shot up.

"I vote Ootani! Her glare could scare anyone! Plus people would come just to see her!" One boy said and the class chuckled and looked her way. If she had to be involved she guessed that it wouldn't be boring to be scaring people.

"Fine." She said and the boy high-fived his friend next to him. The class rep wrote her name on the chalk bored.

"I will." Said one boy.

"Me too!"

"Makoto is the tallest boy here he should be a monster too!" Everyone seemed to agree and in his seat Makoto turned white.

"No." Akira said instinctively, immediately wishing she could clamp her hand over her mouth. She hadn't meant to say no, it had just come out. The class looked her way, some with confusion and others with trepidation. A very large part of the school already thought that Akira and Makoto didn't get along very well. They were pretty close.

"He's a crappy actor and clumsy, pick someone else." She said crossing her arms and daring someone to contradict her.

"I will then." said another girl with glasses. The class rep nodded and jotted down the names.

"I think that's good, alright then everyone else will be involved in selling tickets and building the sets." After a while of discussing who would be doing what the class was finally dismissed for club activities. As Akira was walking out the door a hand caught her arm. She turned to see Makoto staring at her with a wide smile.

"Thanks Akira." He said dropping all formalities and using her name. Akira went beat red and shrugged out of his hold before walking, more like stomping, towards the entrance.

"Idiot." she said lowly. Makoto watched her march away in confusion, apparently Akira still disliked him. Haruka tapped his shoulder.

"Practice."

At home Akira handed her empty bento to the chef in the kitchen. He looked at it in surprise.

"You ate it all?" He asked in his gruff voice. Akira shook her head.

"It taste great but I shared it with...a friend." She said really unsure of what to call Makoto. She didn't really think of him as a friend per say, he was more like an acquaintance who had a tendency to be taken advantage of. Like a lost kid that you felt obligated to help.

"Well then that's good to hear." He said smiling at her. She shook her head and went to start her homework.

She was floating, and felt warm. She opened her steel colored eyes and found that she was above a colorful coral reef. All around her fish of all shapes and sizes swam by her, the water was as clear as glass. She swam along with a school of bannerfish smiling at the scene. The soft beige of the sand at the bottom and the rainbow of coral was beautiful. Her feet sat down on the sandy floor and she watched as a handful of seahorses swam around her playfully. They all stopped in front of her and seemed to be looking behind her. She turned wondering what sort of fish would be behind her, and was shocked to find a sleek large shark staring at her, it's teeth revealed and almost smiling. She stood completely still afraid to move. All of a sudden it moved to strike at her but was smacked in a whirl of water, bubbles, and green. Akira had crouched and cover her head with her hands in a protective stance. It wasn't until she felt warm hands untangling her own and pulling her up that she opened her eyes.

All the fish had suddenly reappeared, she hadn't even noticed that they had left, and in front of her was the merman from her dream. He held her arms gently and was smiling at her with a very kind and familiar smile. She smiled back at him and he took one of her hands and led her around the reef. They swam for a while until he turned to her suddenly and brought her in for a very sweet kiss just before...

Akira shot up in bed and blinked the sleep away, remembering her dream. Her face was burning, and her mind going a million miles a minuet. She couldn't believe it. Her dream merman was Makoto.

"Good God."


	4. Chapter 4

Tsundere

Ch. 4

Charon

* * *

Avoidance was an art, like being a spy really. Akira had managed to avoid looking at, speaking to or being within an arms reach of Makoto all week, and now finally on Saturday morning she relaxed. She had packed a light bag and sat wearily in her train seat happy to be able to turn her new found ability off. Anytime now her train would pull into it's station and Akira would be whisked off back to pop idol land. It wasn't that she was looking forward to that, but she was excited to see her friends again.

Her cab ride was uneventful and secretly Akira found that she liked that her new town had much less traffic. But that was it! The cab pulled over to a street side spot in front of a large shining sky scraper and let her out. Akira was decked out in a maroon beanie, sunglasses, large hoodie and nondescript jeans. In trying to seem unworthy of attention she had succeeded in looking suspicious. Next to the revolving doors stood a very stylish and pretty girl, she was looking up and down the side walk her long hair swishing with the wind. Momoe. She apparently had already been to hair and make up. Her designer sun dress stood out among the commuters who passed her by with cell phones attached to their ears and brief cases to their hands.

"Yo." Akira said waving as she neared Momoe. In a split second she was caught in a bone shattering hug.

"Akira!" Momoe shouted crushing the air from Akira.

"Can't breath!" Akira managed to say as she peeled Momoe from her. The younger girl's chestnut brown eyes shown with unshed tears as she smiled from ear to ear at Akira. Akira, although shorter than Momoe reached up and patted her head.

"Don't cry, you'll ruin your make up." Momoe laughed and grabbed Akira's hand and proceeded to drag her through the doors to what Akira assumed was their studio for the day.

* * *

Makoto unlaced the bow that held his apron on and set it on a hook that hung from the kitchen door, and sighed for the fourth time in a row. Ren and Ran, who were seated at the table, looked from him to each other.

"Girl trouble." Ren said.

"Definitely." Ran said, the two of them nodding to each other. Makoto didn't hear them, in fact he barely noticed that the kids where in the kitchen at all.

"I'm going to Haru's." He shouted up the stairs for his parents to hear.

Makoto let himself in as usual and set Haru's lunch on the kitchen table before heading to the living room where he could hear the TV. Haruka looked up when Makoto sat down next to him and rolled his eyes. He knew exactly what was wrong with his friend. Ootani Akira had been ignoring him, hardcore.

"What are you watching?" Makoto asked not recognizing the program. Haruka looked back at the TV screen.

"Some talk show." He said offering Makoto the bowl of snacks on the coffee table.

"Nagisa said everyone is coming over in a bit." He added, almost unnerved by how quiet Makoto was being.

* * *

Akira smiled as she listened to the girls chit chat and get her up to date with the going on's around the music circuit. Omari had once again dumped her boyfriend and had a new one, Toshi had taken the entrance exams to university and gotten top scores, and Chiasa had been asked to be the face of a new brand of face care products. Akira felt oddly out of place, she had been gone and the band had kept on going without her. It was a sad thought.

"You had better not be slacking off, we need you to write four new songs." Chiasa said eyeing Akira as a woman applied lip gloss for her. CRAP.

"I'll get on that." She said hoping that they would just look it over. Toshi, the smartest of them, caught on quick though.

"Ah. She's been slacking." She said in her matter of fact way. Akira Grinned apologetically. A chorus of 'Akira!' filled the room and had her smiling again. She was still needed.

After hair and make up Akira felt like a doll, but relaxed into it as she and her friends posed individually and then together for pictures. Takanaka, her manager, was constantly on the phone, but came over to say hi and give her a hug.

"We'll be stopping over at WeView before you head back." She said quickly and then answered her phone before Akira could say anything. Behind her Omari chuckled her low breathy laugh.

"I'm guessing no one told you that bit." She said as Akira sulked. She didn't really like talk shows, they tried to weasel stuff out of you.

"No, Momoe left that part out." She said sending a glare to the girl who smiled sweetly at her.

"How are you liking normal high school life?" Omari who was three years older than Akira asked. Akira shrugged.

"What? No boy? No clubs? Nothing? How boring Akira." she said smiling good-naturedly at her. Akira's face tinted pink for just a moment but it was enough for Omari.

"Ah Ha, so a boy then." Akira glared at her.

"No, no boy." She said thinking of every reason why she didn't like Makoto. Weak willed, coward, too nice for his own good.

* * *

The swim club had all brought over a snack and watched the Saturday TV programming together. Meanwhile Makoto sat quietly trying to be sociable. Gou eyed him along with Nagisa conspiratorially.

"Makoto, are you sick?" Nagisa asked curiously. Makoto shook his head, at least he didn't feel sick.

"No, why?" He asked sending them a smile. Nagisa looked to Haruka then.

"Haru, what's wrong with him?" The blond boy asked knowing that Haruka would know for sure.

"Ootani Akira is what's wrong with him." He said switching the TV channel. Rei pushed his glasses up his nose.

"Is she still being mean to you?" He asked concerned. Makoto glared, well as much as Makoto could, at Haruka.

"She ignores him." He said without looking at the green eyed boy.

"Haru!" He said exasperatedly. Gou clapped her hands together and smiled as an idea came to her mind.

"Are you a fan of hers Makoto-senpai?" She asked happily. Next to her Nagisa smiled and shook his head.

"Well I uh... I don't..." He didn't know enough about Akira's music to be a fan or not.

"Ah, look!" Rei said as Haruka switched to another channel and the words WakiZashi lit up the screen.

"Haru! Stop!" Gou and Nagisa said in unison.

* * *

Akira adjusted the strap to her white fender strat, her back to the audience. In front of her Toshi adjusted her seat and looked over her neon yellow rum set. Momoe checked her mic, and Omari tested some chords on her bass. Chiasa stepped up next to her and whispered.

"Don't freak!" In a joking sort of way. Akira stuck her tongue out at her before the lights dimmed and she turned to stand in front other own mic. The audience shouted when all of a sudden Toshi began turning out a beat on her drums.

The swim team had all quieted down to watch the live band on TV. Akira was a whole other person with her guitar in hand and a mic in her face. The camera panned over the crowd all of whom were jumping and waving signs. A very sweet looking girl began to play simple notes on her keyboard. Makoto couldn't help but watch the charisma Akira suddenly had on stage. She looked like herself, but then also like the pop star she was rumored to be.

"The only star fell down from the sky, It looked like it would fade into the night, I was alone; It was a long soundless night. That seemed like the last day of the world" Her voice wasn't something that was immediately beautiful, but held a sweetness, a light tone that maybe someone you knew had. Her voice along with the steady rhythm of the music combined made the song something a little more than ordinary.

"I jumped out barefoot onto the veranda, and stretched out my hands towards the sky above.  
How many dreams will I have to pass through before I can meet you?" As she sang she smiled at the crowd a very comfortable smile that he had never seen.

"Right now, right now, I'm crossing the land of tears, the moon is so far yet so distant, just like you. If I believe in this feeling, will I see you?" The girls played with all their hearts and it was easy to tell that all of them really enjoyed the music they were making. It flowed from them almost effortlessly and infected the listener.

"If only I could protect both, that single lie and that single promise, in the same way" From next to him Haruka hazard a look at his oldest friend. He smirked, Makoto was completely entranced.

"I want to change shapes and stare at you. No matter how many gentle words I forget." Every now and then the girl on keyboard would support Akira's voice with her own.

"How many dreams will I have to pass through before I can meet you? Right now, right now, I'm crossing the land of tears. Though there are no certain things here, I continue singing this common love song. My uneven heart feels like it will soon overflow. Right now, right now, I want to believe in everything" Her fingers moved deftly over the guitar, and she looked right at the camera as if she was singing to only the viewer. Makoto felt his face grow warm but couldn't look away.

"The sun dyed my dreams, and the morning came, the morning came." They played the last remnants of the song and then suddenly ended it. The crowd boomed and in Haruka's living room the swim team (Nagisa, Rei and Gou.) clapped and hollered along with the audience.

"Still don't think she's the problem?" Haruka asked covertly. Makoto covered his mouth with hand and stared at the TV. He looked more frightened than anything. Haruka caught everyone's attention when he laughed out loud.

* * *

Akira sighed after wiping her forehead. She still had the adrenaline from playing live running through her veins. Momoe jumped her from behind and wrapped her thin arms around Akira's shoulders.

"Looks like you haven't lost it." Chiasa said ruffling Akira's short hair.

"Like I would!" Akira said grinning broadly at her. The four girls all stopped and smiled warmly at Akira. She looked between them in confusion.

"What?" She asked. Toshi, who was usually the deadpan faced one laughed.

"We were worried, you seemed down." She said while the other girls nodded in agreement.

"It's a boy!" Momoe said jokingly.

"It's not!" Akira shouted red faced.

The train ride back was quiet and Akira napped most of the way home, she and the girls had stuffed themselves in a photo booth at the train station and took a few photos before saying goodbye.

'We'll visit you soon!' Omari had said with a thumbs up.

'Snatch that boy Akira!' Chiasa had shouted for the whole station to hear. Akira smiled as she put the photo stickers in her bag.

At home Grams had go on and on about how wonderful Akira did and told her she had even recorded it. She ate and then went to take a bath. As soon a her head hit her pillow she was out like a light. That night was dreamless, and she thanked god for it.

As she walked to school the next day she was relaxed and in a great mood, after live shows she usually felt that way. As she was walking next to the beach she nearly stopped dead. Tachibana Makoto was standing right in her way staring at her with a determined sort of look. And a few yards down, poorly hidden was the rest of the swim team, even Haruka. She picked up her pace and stared at the sidewalk and walked right past him.

"Akira!" Makoto said turning to walk right next to her, keeping up easily since his legs were much longer than hers.

"Wait I need to talk to you, can you hold on a minuet?" It went on like this all the way to the front gate of the school, the whole way Akira's face turning redder and redder by the minuet. Not out of anger but because she kept picturing Makoto shirtless and with a fish tail. She nearly ran into a light poll but Makoto caught her by her bag's strap and stopped her.

"Akira! Dammit stop!" He finally shouted annoyed. Akira stared at him in shock, she had never heard him speak so rudely. He hadn't just gained her attention though, but the whole court yard full of students.

"Wh...what?" Akira asked amazed that Makoto could frown like that. He released her bag and suddenly looked nervous, he even began to fiddle with his own bag. His face tinged a slight pink, but he took a deep breath and stared at her determined.

"I like you." He said. The students around them went completely silent at the public confession. From behind the gate Gou and Nagisa high fived. Akira's face went from white to green to red. Her mouth gaped like a fish's and her usually sharp steel eyes were wide in shock. A proverbial cricket chirped in the back ground as Makoto waited for her to reply. A few boys had confessed to her in her short time at the school and each one had been shot down mercilessly and without hesitation. So it was immensely interesting that she was so silent and flustered all of a sudden.

"...That's..." Makoto prepared himself for whatever she was about to say. He had practiced with Haruka all last night, each scenario that Gou had said was possible. Except Gou hadn't been prepared for what Akira said next.

"Okay." She said staring at Makoto in complete confusion. She hadn't monitored the words coming out of her mouth when she had said that but they were honest. She was far to okay with it, in her opinion. Makoto, who had been prepared for the worst was in no way prepared for the best. Well it could have been better, it wasn't as if she had returned his feelings.

"Okay then." He said, eyes wide in shock and face as red as Gou's hair. Both stared at the ground until Akira's hand shot out and grabbed a hold on Makoto's sleeve and dragged him with her to the class room. The students began to buzz with excitement.

In the classroom Akira sat down and so did Makoto, and each still red faced stared at the chalk board and kept quiet.

Makoto felt like he had stood in front of a firing squad and lived. His near death experience had rattled him and he chanced a glance at Akira who much to his relief looked just as dumbfounded as he felt.

"So..." He began completely unsure what to say next. It was as if their relationship had jumped from hostile to completely awkward.

"I'll share my bento with you, but you buy us drinks, okay?" She said looking his way still blushing but trying to be less awkward. Makoto suddenly felt much better, and he smiled at her.

"Yeah sure." She quickly looked away from him and back at the chalk board, her hands in her lap tightly curled in fists.

"I saw your live show yesterday, you guys are amazing." He said conversationally. Akira, who had been complimented many times over suddenly felt like it was the first real compliment she had ever heard. She smiled a tiny smile.

"Thanks."

* * *

Thank you to Starzway, Ninjakittyx3, smiles and (LOL) reviewer. I'm glad you like the story. The song in this chapter, Charon is by Negoto, and is copyrighted (not mine) please check it out on YouTube. search ねごと カロン (- Highlight this and copy, then search for it on Youtube)

WakiZahi was not styled after Negoto, there are five members instead of Negoto's four.

WakiZashi Trivia!

Akira Ootani: Doesn't seem like it but can bake and loves sweets.

Omari Hanakata: Has a degree in accounting!

Momoe Ginzou: Is a disaster in the kitchen and loves spicy food.

Toshi Kannoe: Has an Eidetic memory and the highest I.Q. In the band.

Chiasa Ushio: She was a model before becoming the main guitarist for WakiZashi.

Till next time!


End file.
